leaving the house
by Bella Rum
I actually left the house today. We drove over to Sam’s Club. Toilet paper and pot roast and wine supplies were dangerously low. My DIL put a few of those pocket-size hand sanitizers in my stocking. I think she felt a little guilty since it was her offspring who gave me this monster bug. After that sarcastic post I wrote about hand sanitizers, I had to laugh at myself, but guess what? I used them. I’ve been humbled. And I applied lotion afterwards to minimize the chafing. All bases covered.
What do you call those folks who stand at the exit door at Sam’s, the ones who check your receipt against the contents of your basket? Anyway, our guy is probably in his late fifties/early sixties. He has a distinctive, twangy, sing/song voice that slides up and down the scale like a squeaky seesaw on a windy day. He holds his yellow highlighter in his right hand like an abbreviated saber. He loves his job and it shows. Occasionally he sticks his left pinky finger up his nose and does a little pick just before he reaches for your receipt with his left hand, but you are not treated to this gesture every time. Raising the yellow highlighter like a laser baton, he gracefully slashes his neon yellow line down the center of the paper while simultaneously and excruciatingly whining out his spiel, which never changes, “Helllloo. Hooow are yoou tooodaay? Enjoooy your afternooon. Cooome agaaain.” I just love him, but I make H get the receipt. Then I won’t let him near me until he washes his hands. I was disappointed. He did not do the pick today, but I’m certain that he did it sometime before we arrived at his door. I know this.
I want comfort food. So I put a beautiful pot roast in the oven at 300°F * for a few hours with a little beef broth, and some garlic, onions and carrots. I just let it cook away for hours, the aroma drifting stealthily through the entire house. I added a slurry of flour and water to thicken it a little while ago, and I’m going to make mashed potatoes to go with. Comfort food is good for what ails you. It wouldn’t have been a bad thing if my appetite had diminished during this monstrous thing. Alas, it is the last thing to go.
Oh, my mouse died yesterday. H bought a new one for me. I have mouse love. It’s just the usual Mac mouse, but it works and I love the simplicity. I’m easy.
* When writing temperatures, I’ve often used the percentage symbol to represent degrees. I finally learned how to make the degree symbol (°). The Mac formula below works, but H said the one for PCs didn’t work for him. Becca commented about the task bar in your WordPress editor. Select the option that enables you to insert custom characters. You will find the degree symbol there.
Mac: Option + Shift + 8 = °
PC: Alt + 0176 = °
How do you make the degree symbol? I have no idea so I just write it out. Well, I’m glad you got out and good for you avoiding hands and using that sanitizer stuff — just in case. When we were in Europe, I had this pair of 99 cent stretchy gloves. Every time I went into the subway and held the rail on the steps (and other times too) I fished the gloves out of my pocket. I could have washed them, but when I got home I gave them a toss! Just do everything you can to stay well, my friend!
Jeanie,
It’s so important to avoid germs if you have something chronic. Those subways are teaming with humanity and you know what that means. My son worked in Manhattan for years and rode the subway every day. He went straight to the bathroom and washed up when he got home. When I was in the hospital, several nurses told me they take their clothes off immediately when they get home and wash up. They said that they think they have some immunity because they work in it all the time, but their families don’t.
Here’s the formula for making the degree sign on a PC and a Mac. I know the one for the Mac works but I haven’t tried the one for a PC. Hope it works for you.
PC: Alt + 0176 = °
Mac: Option + Shift + 8 = °
On WordPress blogs there is a place in the task bar when you’re typing your post where you can find all sorts of symbols to insert into your post. That’s they way make the degree sign – and others as well!
That is also exactly the way I make pot roast, and I realize I haven’t made one in far too long. Now I know what I’m having for dinner tomorrow. Thanks, friend!
Becca,
Yes, I use that place on the task bar. I don’t know why I’ve never looked for the degree symbol. Thanks.
Enjoy your pot roast. I’ve had one of those cravings for it for a while, and you know how good something taste when you’ve wanted it for a while.
mmmm pot roast. It’s on the menu for the next week. Perfect cold weather food! Please don’t ever type those tiny letters again. I had to take off my glasses and get nose up to the screen to read them and now there’s a smudge on the monitor.
Holy cow, Rootie. I had no idea it was small. I copied and pasted it. It didn’t appear small on my computer but H could barely see it. Thanks for telling me.
I learned how to make é some time ago, but never went in to find the other symbols. I like keyboard shortcuts the best, as I can use them everywhere. Thanks for the tip and the encouragement to go find a chart, for heaven’s sake.
I think the dudes and dudettes at Sam’s probably are called “Greeters”, like at Wal-Mart. I’ve never been to a Sam’s. I rarely make Wal-Mart, either, but my aunt sent me a gift card to use there, so I went yesterday afternoon.
My, goodness. It’s quite a scene, even after the holiday season.
If you copy and paste, I think the thing to do is go to the second row in the editor and use “paste from Word” or “paste from plain text”. That removes the formatting and makes things match up with the WordPress editor. Or, you can go into the text window, remove the html and then reformat.
That pot roast sounds wonderful. But first – chili! I learned something at the grocery yesterday. My butcher shop is closed until January 8. So, I had to buy ground beef at the store. The sign said, “Product of USA, Canda and Mexico”. Uh – I don’t think so. There was US top sirloin on sale for $3.99 a pound. I asked if he would grind some pieces of that for me – and he did! So, I got a good price on the meat, and felt a little better about the meat I brought home. Live and learn.
Greeters. That’s it. Of course.
You really have to keep your eyes open when buying food. Dad always bought the meat of his choice and used his grinder at home. Then he knew what he was getting.
Thanks for the tips. I will act accordingly.
The pot roast hit the spot. H wants to learn to cook so I’m teaching him a few of my standards. This is his idea but I think it’s a good one. I’ve neglected his education for 43 years. I’ve assured him that most of the cooking I do is basic and he can certainly master it.
I’m just so glad you’re home
The picker paragraph made me laugh.
TC,
I’m glad, too. I’m finally starting to feel human again.
The picker guy cracks me up. I wish you could hear his voice.
To the pot roast & mashed potatoes we would add a can of very young sweet peas – now THAT’s comfort food
I use a couple of (HP) keyboard symbols in my job – Alt 0167 (§) and Alt 0182 (¶). I’ll have to remember the degree one.
I love peas in casseroles. We are two of the ten people in North America who like tuna casserole, and I throw frozen peas in there. I don’t usually think about putting them in my pot roast, but it actually ran through my mind just before I put it in the oven the other night. I will definitely include them next time.
Thank for the HP shortcuts. I’ll pass them on to H.
Ooh I LOVE tuna noodle casserole! I had a WW tuna noodle thingy yesterday
Um, that should have been PC, not HP. Although maybe H has a Hewlett Packard so it would have made sense to him – ha!
Yes, he has a HP.
Glad to find another tuna casserole lover.
A sure sign you’re on the mend – your humor in this piece about the left pinky up the nose…omg, hilarious. And I don’t blame you for not taking back the receipt. Ack. I wouldn’t want it near me. I like Jeanie’s idea about the gloves. Funny what people will do in terms of picking. We had an engineer once at the office would be talking to you and stick his pinky in his ear and grind it around, then take it out and look at it while he was still talking, mind you, and then….he would smell his pinky. And then put his hand in his pocket. Sheesh.
Gotta get a blanket to use here on the couch. Time to cozy up and have some comfort time, which successfully follows comfort food! Yup, pot roast here this weekend, too! Careful, we’ll be coming to you for menu ideas often!
What people will do in public never ceases to surprise me. I’m a committed people watcher. While driving down the Interstate, I once saw a man waving his pants over his head. Nope. Not a stitch on south of the boarder.
I am feeling better. We enjoyed our pot toast. I plan to make an open-faced roast beef sandwich with the little that remains. Hope you enjoy yours as much as we did. Sometimes it just hits that spot.